More on snow panic

The excited conversation started by Donna Purnomo’s rant here yesterday got me thinking about what Donna rightly termed the snowball effect of storm news. Here’s what happened in my office, as I’m sure it did in many:

Snow begins falling at 11 a.m. in Colonie, exactly the late-morning start that was predicted. People commence to talking about the snow. Snow falls progressively harder, and by 1 o’clock some folks are heading home to get their kids, who have been dismissed early from school. They call in to the office to tell colleagues some version of “Look out! The roads are horrible! It’s taken me more than an hour just to get to Delmar/Clifton Park.”

This causes more people to want to leave early, and by 3 the bosses are telling all “nonessential” personnel to skedaddle even though the forecasters are saying the snow will stop by 6ish. The result is a huge influx of people getting onto the roads exactly when the snow is coming down at its hardest, more than an inch per hour, and the plows still haven’t caught up. So of course these people then call back to the office and say, “Oh, wow, the roads now are even worse! It’s disastrous out here! It took me two hours to get to Schaghticoke/Wilton!”

Meanwhile, I’m sitting tight at my desk. When I finally leave, at 6:15, the snow has all but stopped falling. The parking lot is mostly cleared, and the plows have made several passes at the roads. Getting home takes me all of eight extra minutes.

I wholeheartedly agree with Steve! My Christmas party was scheduled for 7:00PM at the Elks Club just behind Schuyler Meadows. I work in Menands and live in Clifton Park, so I went directly from my office to the party. People that left an hour before me arrived after I did because they chose the congested Rt. 9 to Fiddler’s Lane route. Me, I took the back way – Schuyler Road, cut through East Hills, onto 155. It took me all of five minutes longer than normal to account for the snow. I have found my regular commute to be quicker by skipping 787 / 7 / 87 entirely, and taking Rt. 155 to Rt. 9. Unfortunately, the high volume of traffic in the Capital Area means that there will always be plenty of morons jamming up the roadways, snow or not. My commute can turn from 25 minutes into 1 1/2 hours with just a little bit of rain and a car pulled over on the side of the northway. Heaven forbid anyone should have to drive in the snow! How many overturned cars in ditches can you count on the the major roadways around here, inclement weather or not? Many people simply don’t know how to drive.

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